The present invention relates to apparatus for manipulating drop wires for warp-thread drawing-in machines used for preparing loom harnesses. The apparatus includes means for storing the drop wires and transport means for feeding them to a separating station where the drop wires are singularized for the purpose of preparing them for the drawing-in of the warp threads.
In the warp-thread drawing-in machine sold under the trademark USTER DELTA of Zellweger Uster AG and disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,681,815, the drop wires are manipulated in such a way that they are inserted with one of their ends into a sectional rail and are then clamped together with a type of screw clamp to form a compact stack. These stacks are then lined up on supporting rails of a drawing-in truck which carries a warp beam and a clamped warp-thread layer. The truck is moved past the drawing-in machine and in this sense acts as transport means for the drop wires. Since the stacks have only a relatively short length, refilling with new stacks is necessary when there are high numbers of threads. This is associated with undesirable stoppages of the drawing-in machine.